You fell from the stars- Looker x Anabel, Pokemon SunMoon
by SchoolgirlQ
Summary: When Looker found Anabel lying on the beach wide eyed, he knew that he'd have to take her back with him. This girl is clueless about this world, she barely knew her own name, it was as if she fell from another world, or ... from the stars. Little did he know that, this would be a decision that he'd come to regret for his entire life.
1. Chapter 1: vs Unidentified Beast

You fell from the stars

A Pokemon Sun/Moon, Looker x Anabel fanfic by Schoolgirl Q

"When Looker found Anabel lying on the beach wide eyed, he knew that he'd have to take her back with him.  
This girl is clueless about this world, she barely knew her own name, it was as if she fell from another world, or ... from the stars.

Little did he know that, this would be a decision that he'd come to regret for the rest of his lifetime"

Chapter 1. vs The Unidentified Beast

"What a tenderhearted, sympathetic fellow you are." Nanu spat at him through gritted teeth, "Out of all the things that you could've done, you chose to feel fucking sorry for that beast. I wonder how you feel about your partners now? Really fucking sorry?"

Nanu was furious. Wrathful. Looker knew it by heart. Never had Nanu dropped so many F bombs in his speech, he had always refrained from employing even a single swearword to express displeasure. Nanu turned his back on him but Looker could almost see his face contorted, nostrils flaring, eyes flashing like lightning on a pitch black night.

And he knew exactly why.

"… I'm sorry, Na… Chief 000."

"You should be," Nanu turned his head around and shot him a piercing look, "but don't say it to me, say it to Cathie, though I highly doubt that she's gonna hear you. It's because of you that we couldn't even give her a proper funeral. Not even a burial."

Nanu's words pierced through like knives to his ribs, with every second that passes the sharp tip digs deeper.

"Oh and of course, don't forget to say sorry to Croagy and the others. Because of you our Pokemon just became that beast's entree. You really fucked up this time."

Being reminded again of the tragedy that happened right before his eyes was like sprinkling salt all over his wounded skin. It ached. But Looker couldn't even tell what was really aching anymore.

"… Please forgive me."

"That's not my job to do." Nanu halted his steps and turned to face him completely, and from the deadly flares of his eyes Looker knew at instant that forgiveness wasn't an option. "It's God's job to forgive you, and my job is to send you to God. Now get out of my sight before I blow up, don't say that I didn't warn you."

"… I'm sorry about this, but…" Looker swallowed, looked away, trying to not be engulfed by the scarlet flames of those eyes, and with great difficulty squeezed out the last words in a whimper: "there's only one boat for us."

"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE? JUST SWIM THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The two of them shared the longest and most insufferable boat ride back to the head quarters.

As much as a joke it was intended, Looker was starting to believe swimming back to Poni Island was the better option. Couldn't care less about wounds the throbbing of his wounds, he'd rather have it that way if it could quell the unspeakable pain somewhere deep inside him.

Nanu was wounded severely as well. The beast left a hideous looking gash across his back, blood stopped oozing as heavily from the gash but had already dyed the split openings of his shirt red. If the gash was any deeper than this Looker would've swore that he'd see flesh and bones.

A few seconds ago he had offered his assistance to treat Nanu's wounds but was merely turned down. They hadn't exchange words since.

Nanu's eyes stared fixedly on the steering wheel, but when Nanu did look in his direction, the focus was not there. It was either on the tip of the boat behind him or on the turbulent waters beside him. It was as if he had become invisible to Nanu, or that Nanu could not bear to see him at all.

The boat was much emptier than it used to be. The gap between himself and Nanu turned to vast voids of space, and it was insufferable..

This boat carried three people and more than three Pokemon onto () island.

It had been cozy then, on the trip there. Cathie was pretty quick with her intimacies, despite being their first time meeting. She was telling crappy knock knock jokes all the way to the island. Nanu's Persian purring lazily on the side. Croagy, his own Croagunk, would join him in sightseeing and point occasionally at quirky things he spotted.

And now it could only carry two of them back.

The silence was suffocating him.

It was like being thrown into water.

Air rushed out of his mouth, his lips instinctively opened to breathe, only for the murky water to flood in throughout his entire body. His throat burned as if thousands of tiny needles have been plunged into it. He could not hear a thing, as if the entire world was silenced by the the sound of flowing waters, and his mouth could not produce a sound.

 _When did he feel sorry for the beast?_

It was when his Arcanine, Growly, landed a blow onto its colossal body. Outrage. Judging by the beast's reaction it did quite a good deal of damage on it. Probably a critical hit. The beast let out a moan in pain and stumbled a few steps backwards, shaking the earth that he stepped upon.

For a split second Looker would've sworn he saw the beast whimper as if it felt wronged, its body into a defensive curl, insecure, and despite its bulky build and brutish looks… seemed almost fragile.

He froze on the spot, questioning himself for the things that they were doing to it, for the motive of this mission.

 _It doesn't belong here._

 _But it's not doing any harm to anyone or anything._

 _And all we're doing is making it feel unwanted._

He hesitated for a few seconds without giving any instructions to his Pokemon.

And those very seconds turned out to be lethal.

His memory of the series of events that followed was particularly vivid in stretches: Nanu hollering, "What on earth do you think you're doing?! Get a hold of yourself!" were his exact words; Croagy tugging hard at his pants; Pekky, his Toucannon, chirping anxiously for further orders, wings flapping restlessly.

Sharp yellow fangs glinting in the afternoon light. One of the pincers, or was it the extension of its black tongue, was sneaking up to Pekky. Nanu Bawling. Revolting crunching and gulping noises. Cathie screaming. Black feathers tinted with scarlet.

The glow of wildest hunger in the beast's eyes. A roar that rattled the woods. Cathie's Ninetales blasted away by a tail that resembled a bola. Her Ribombee yelping, caught by the claws. Raw metallic scent in the air. The ravenous eyes locked themselves onto Cathie. Nanu pushing her away from a belch of gastro acid. Ground sizzling in bubbles and smog. Cathie screaming. Nanu's Persian crushed by a slam of its gigantic pincer. Nanu cursing.

Growly snarling. Growly bolting at it with Extreme Speed. Heavy slam. Sent Growly flying to the rocky edges of the hill. Shock wave. Getting hurled against a tree trunk. Crouching on the ground, blood gushing out from his split upper lips. Trying to get up. Trying to stumble across to Growly. Nanu yelling "DUCK!", flung himself onto him and Cathie and throwing themselves on the ground. The swing of a black spiky shadow. The tail. The side of his face slamming against the ground. Cathie screaming. Throbbing under his right eye. Nanu grunting.

Cathie being hauled away by the beast. Cathie screaming. Croagy hopping and making his every attempt to attack. Mud bomb. Sludge bomb. Brick break. A deafening roar. Croagy clamped by the pincers. Croagy held up into the air. Startled croaking. Croagy split into halves. A pain ripping through his belly, making him wonder if he'll ever breathe again.

 _Cathie screaming._

 _Cathie screaming._

Cathie's screaming ceased.

He knew that his precious Pokemon and Cathie are being devoured by that beast.

He knew that this is all taking place right before of his eyes.

He knew it.

But he couldn't do a thing. Neither his petrified limbs nor lips could move an inch.

The flowing water that silenced the world had faded out.

In the end, he would always see the flashback with perfect clarity. He knew that he would.

The blood stains on his jacket were now cold. It had turned dark like mud splashes. He couldn't even tell whose blood was spilled.

It was raining. Not a storm, merely drizzles. The waters were not as storm-tossed, he watched as ripples expand from the raindrops and blend into the waves, one after another.

All of a sudden questions arose out of nowhere, and he couldn't believe that he only thought of asking them up until now.

Why didn't anyone from the organization ever informed them of the potential risk of this mission? Of this "unidentified organism" in particular?

Why was Cathie assigned to be their partner, when she wasn't properly trained for intensive combat?

Why was Cathie the only one targeted by the beast?

Who is Cathie, anyways?

And what is this beast? This… thing?

He wanted to ask Nanu every single one of those questions. He wanted answers for everything.

He didn't.

It'd be despicable of him.

A blob of purple caught his eye.

It was perhaps the only color that stood out to him in this gloomy day, the only color that didn't blend in with the shady trees, the pale sand, the murky waters and the grey skies.

Looker squinted his eyes a little in order to visualize the blob of purple a little better. He saw stretched out curves that, as he realized, outline the arms and legs of someone.

The blobs of purple were the hues of hair.

He slammed his hands on the rim of the boat, breaking the silence and giving Nanu quite a fright. "Chief! Nanu! Someone's passed out on the beach! Stop the boat by the beach now!"

"Don't you boss me around, who the hell do you think you are…" Nanu rolled his eyes, but nevertheless steered the boat towards the beach.

Looker was frantically looking for the first aid kit somewhere off in the corner, and the second that the boat slid onto the sand he was up and ready to dash.

"Don't move just yet!"

Within a split second, Nanu grabbed onto Looker's sleeves without moving his eyes away from the buzzing and flashing device. "The wormhole radiation detector is sensing alarming quantities of… 100KR?"

Nanu was holding onto a dusty brown overcoat and nothing else.

"Tsk, reckless as ever, and you call yourself an interpol…" Nanu shook his head in disbelief and followed.

It was a girl who passed out on the beach.

Looker assumed that she'd be around 10-ish. She looked rather petite and hollow-cheeked; couldn't say that she was exactly waif-like, she was wearing more than decent clothes—despite being torn and covered in dust—but she was pale and frail, almost like she was malnourished.

He lifted the girl's head off the beach, while shaking her arms gently in an attempt to wake her.

"Hey, young lady, can you hear me?"

No response.

 _Had she almost drowned herself?_

His systematic first aid training told him to check for signs of breathing. He placed a finger under her nose and the rest on top of her mouth, though weak, he could still sense some warmer air being exhaled onto his fingers.

He pressed a few fingers on the side of her wrist to check for pulse, and saw that her hands were bleached and wrinkly from soaking in the water. Her pulses are a little arrhythmic and unsteady, but he assumed that she wasn't at risk of death. He could afford to wait for Nanu. A minute or so.

He wiped the water and sand off her face, and started to observe her.

There was an unruly swirl to her hair and it was soddened by rain, the glossy lilac dusted with grains of sand, droplets of water dripping from the tips.

Her lips would've been rosy, but they're pale and anemic looking, as if blood was drained from her face. Her eyelids were closely shut, eyelashes still like strands of grass that morning dew landed upon.

"…What happened to you, girl?" He asked.

No response.

He thought of covering her with his overcoat, so at least she wouldn't suffer from heat loss as much. But when he was about to take his coat off… he found that it wasn't on him from the very start.

"Is she still alive, or dead as a doornail?"

Looker turned his head back to Nanu, and almost immediately his eyes were being covered by something wet and foul-smelling dumped onto his head. Oh, right, he left his overcoat with Nanu.

"Yeah, she's ok-ish," Looker took his coat and slid it under his lap, before resting the girl's head against it. "At least not as dead as a doornail. Thanks for bringing my coat."

"Your coat stinks to high heaven, but we had a shitty day." Nanu pretended to wrinkle his nose. "Still sound asleep huh? Good. There's something that I need to tell you… This girl, she's something special, she's probably the source of all that radiation…"

He glanced down at the girl's resting face and snorted.

"… and she wakes up right at this moment. Talk about timing."

The girl was awake, her eyes flung open so wide that both of her iris were exposed like perfectly round orbs. The iris of her eyes were the color of a newly bloomed lilac.

"Good mor… good afternoon, young lady?"

From the gradual transition of confusion to vigilance in her eyes, Looker knew that it wasn't the best greeting he could think of.

"Who, who are you?" There was a suppressed tremor in her voice as she quickly distanced herself from him, raising an arm almost instinctively for defensive purposes.

"Now now, take a deep breath, don't be so tense or afraid or anything," Despite having said that Looker himself did panic ever so slightly, almost dropping his IPA ID after pulling it out from his chest pocket. "I am a police officer from the IPA, the code name's 100KR, this is Na… Chief 000 beside me."

"...IPA?"

"Yes, so please know that we won't do any harm to you, and we're here to help you. Please let us help you."

Looker sighed in relief as he saw the girl lowering her arms, a few seconds ago still crossed tightly in front of her chest to shield her body from him. "Now that you know our names, I think it's only fair for us to know yours, don't you think?"

"My name…" The girl was biting her lips and looking down at her feet, it took her a whole minute before she unzipped those lips and slipped out a name: "…Anabel."

"Why do you sound so unsure about your own name? Say it with some confidence at least." Looked asked half jokingly, but couldn't hide his serious intent well.

"Because…" the girl paused for a second, and mumbled the rest of her words, "…because, I am unsure."

Looker exchanged looks with Nanu, who was also frowning and signaled him to continue with questioning.

"Do you remember anything else?" Looker leaned in, trying to suppress the butterflies in his stomach, "please just tell us what you remember, like how did you end up washed up on the beach, where were you before this, who were you with… anything that you remember helps! Anything at all!"

"You're asking her way too many questions at once, dumbass." Nanu wasn't trying to hide the impatience in his tone and pushed him aside, kneeling down to be on eye level with Anabel. "Alright Miss Anabel, tell us where you're from."

She pressed a few finger against her temple. "… Hoenn."

"Now you're talking. What part of Hoenn?"

Anabel bit her lips again, quite a bit harder this time that the pink of her lips turned pale. "…A tower… no… that's not it…... I, I don't know… I don't know…" Her lower lips quivered as she repeated those helpless words, trembling fingers grasped hard at her hair.

"We could pass if you want."

"If it's too hard for you please don't bother!"

Anabel suddenly took on a pale expression, as if painted with whitewash — even her pale lips were barely there anymore. It was as if her heart stopped beating for a second and all the blood had run down to her feet. There was a black nausea in her abdomen as she tried to recall anything about herself… that slowly crept up to her head, as she collapsed into Looker's arms like a puppet forcefully released of its strings.

"Miss Anabel! Anabel! Stay with us!" She felt exceptionally light in his arms, it was like holding a rag doll with the face of a fine china.

"She's flaked out again." Nanu held out a few fingers on the side of her wrist to feel her pulse again — slightly accelerated. "God knows how long she's been soaked in this rain. Her hands are iced. Dunno if she's been losing blood. "

Looker lifted her up and carried her on his back, her head leaning meekly against his shoulder. "We gotta take her back to the HQ with us."

"Not so fast." Nanu grabbed him by the wrist again, this time making sure he had a firm grip, "Don't bring her along to the HQ just yet. It's better to leave her at a local PC and head back—"

"THERE'S NO WAY I'M LEAVING HER AT THE PC!" For the first time today he raised his voice at Nanu. "Are you out of your mind? Did you not see her condition? She could barely remember her own name! How can you tell me to head back when you know that I'll be leaving a girl, who's gonna wake up tomorrow helplessly lost in a place foreign to her?"

Without giving Nanu time for his response, he carried on seethingly: "We don't know who she is, right, but how is the PC gonna it out? Are they the police?! No! We are the IPA! It is OUR job to find out exactly who she is, and bring her back to her family! We're bring her back with us!" He concluded definitively, his face spoke of a final decision being made, it was going to happen with or without Nanu's consent.

 _It's gonna be alright, Anabel, everything's gonna be alright…_ he looked back at the unconscious girl on his back, her eyelids closely shut again, Looker wondered if she was in the middle of a nightmare.

 _After bringing you back with us, I'm gonna find out who you are, what part of Hoenn you're from, and bring you home to your mom and dad._

 _Everything's gonna be alright._

 _Please wait for me._

Little did he know that, this would be a decision that he'd come to regret for the rest of his lifetime.


	2. Chapter 2: vs Alolan Vulpix Lilac

"How is she?" Looker sprinted up to Kristen the moment she stepped out of the infirmary. He happened to know her quite well, being nursed by her back in his days of frequent injuries. He would've greeted her properly and maybe even engage in a bit of a small talk, but he couldn't afford it at the moment.

She gave him a look of well-established composure. That calmed him down. "We've tended to the scratches. She's a little feverish and anemic, but nothing major, now we're in the process of intravenous infusion."

"Thank you…" Her monotonous diagnostic report alleviated half of his stress. He felt himself sliding down a chair in the waiting room and sinking into the cushion.

She nodded as a unvoiced response, and pushed her square-rimmed glasses up her nose. "So I take it that your mission didn't end well?"

"… Is it that obvious?" Looker lowered his gaze again, staring down at his feet. "You're right. One of us screwed up. Killed one and injured the others."

"I'm sorry."

"… Don't be. It was me."

"Oh. I'm very sorry." She patted him gently on the shoulders in consolation. He sighed loudly and buried his face into his hands. Looker avoided eye contact with her from the start; he knew that he wouldn't stand the eyeful of pity from Kristen or anyone else. He'd rather be treated like a criminal, like the culprit, as Nanu did.

And Nanu... "How's Na… Chief 000? Is he…" he eyed the infirmary and mouthed the word "alright".

Then he saw Nanu, stepping out of the infirmary, shirt half buttoned, showing through the thick layers of bandages across his chest. Nanu caught him staring and shot back a murderous look, Stopping Looker dead in his tracks.

Kristen exchanged a nod of greeting with Nanu and replied, "You should see for yourself. I'll leave you two alone for now."

So it's just him and Nanu. Again.

Fantastic. He could really use another hour of awkward silence to run the flashbacks in his head or to go on another guilt trip.

"Stop making that face. You look pathetic." Surprisingly Nanu was the first to break the awkward silence, which took him by surprise. Nanu waved something white and flaky in front of his eyes, it was a napkin. "You look like you're about to blubber." He took the napkin from Nanu's hands and slid it into his pockets because he had no use for them at the moment.

Nanu was wrong though. His eyes were as dry as they could be. They weren't drained of tears, tears weren't there in the first place. He wished that he had them, at least it would make him look somewhat pathetic.

He wasn't wearing glasses, but he felt that something was blurring his vision like the winter fog or his own breath rising up the lenses like hot white steam. He knew that neither one would be real, as there was no winter in Alola, and that he never had a pair of glasses from the start.

His train of thoughts were as as clear as his vision. The upper content of his head was no more than a spiral of wool, slowly turning as it unravelled. One more revolution, and the final strand was released, allowing him, or at least his mind, to flip through the gap, to float slowly up, and away.

He zoomed out. Without even noticing it.

He couldn't see well. But his ability of sound perception had somewhat been amplified by 10 times or so. But none of the sounds were real, they were just the voices of his worst nightmare, being replayed to him over and over again.

—Pekky chirping

Growly snarling

Croagy croaking.

Cathie screaming. Cathie screaming.

Cathie screaming—

He shut his eyes miserably.

The screams faded to silence at last.

But the silence itself felt unreal.

He heard footsteps. It felt like a few centuries later that he had heard it.

Heavier than Kristen's. A lot more rushed. The footsteps, echoing down the halls were becoming louder and louder.

"Hey! Er… I mean, 100kr!"

He blinked hard to clear out the blur and reset his focus.

He saw a sizable ball of fluff. No, that's not it. Zooming in. The ball of fluff was someone's kinky, wooly hair. Moving down. Round glasses. Freckles. White lab coat. Lab goggles hanging in front of tie. Zooming in. The tie was full of creases. Had Koffings all over it. Koffings? Koffings confirmed.

There's only one such person he knew with such dreadful taste in ties.

"…Well if it isn't Shaun. Haven't seen you for quite a while. And I thought you could do better than a tie covered in Koffings."

Shaun was one of his few friends back in their days of training. He was never a fan of combat but always seemed to notice the quirkiest details in cases. Unlike Looker, an errand-running officer, he is a member of the Forensics department, well, working in the Forensics laboratory does suit him.

"We just met for the first time in forever and you're judging my tie?! Anyways I just heard about your mission, they said that you were hurt and that you'd be here… I just wanted to come say hi, and umm," back in the days Shaun wasn't the best at reading the situation, but this time he did avoid saying the taboo word, "check to make sure that you're ok and everything's ok!"

"Well how nice of you." He gave Shaun a weary but the most genuine smile he was capable of. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Really."

"Ughhhhh if anything, I'm glad that you're not as hurt as Chief 000…" Ignoring Nanu's razor eyes on the side, Shaun gave him a gigantic bear hug and squeezed him tightly. "It's great to finally see you again but I hate to see you like this!"

"… Get off me. You smell like chemicals that have been incubated for days. Did you even shower? Are you using chemicals for your shampoo?"

"Awwweee but it's a cuddle of love!"

"No, it's a bear hug, and if you don't want to strangle your old friend take your hands off me."

Shaun did. Although Reluctant.

"How's work at the Forensics lab?"

"Oh I'm not at the Forensics lab anymore, I guess I haven't told you yet!" There was a jejunely glow in Shaun's eyes as he went ahead on rambling about his new position, "I got transferred to the new Unidentified Beasts Department! UBD for short! Some quite bizarre creatures indeed! Very intriguing. Absorbing. And that's how I got to know about your mission. By the way, what are you guys doing, hanging around here?"

"Well… I'm still waiting for someone in the infirmary. A girl that we found passed out on the beach." He pointed at the doors of the closed infirmary down the hallway.

"Woah…" Shaun had quite the look of bewilderment on his face, pop-eyed and mouth opened, "I thought that this kinda thing only happened in movies? What happened?"

He was about to proceed on with a dramatic interpretation, of a mysterious girl who fell from the stars, who knows almost nothing about this world and about herself. Looker had the dramatic settings and with his entrance all planned out when Nanu was one step ahead of him, and finished it brutally in a sentence. "Long story short, we picked her up at the beach after we came back."

"She couldn't remember pretty much anything about herself except for her name, we just gotta take her back." He added, because this was something pivotal to the story that should not be omitted.

"… The two of you were coming back from the beast?"

"That's correct."

"Recall for me, was the detector behaving irregularly when the girl was found?"

"Now that you think of it, it was a little…" Looker was about to carry on with the subtle details he remembered until he felt Nanu pinching his arms from the behind. It was the cue for him to keep his lips sealed. Now that he thought of it, Shaun did ask something fairly offbeat and Nanu noticed it well ahead of him.

Nanu took over the conversation, without releasing his pinching claws. "No, nothing in particular."

"Still, this is too similar to be a coincidence. This really reminds me of a previous case." Shaun was stroking his chin, and he recognized it as the universal code for 'I'm thinking real hard and about to do something big'. Finally raising his head, Shaun asked: "You wouldn't mind me taking the girl into inspection would you? My gut feeling tells me that this shouldn't be overlooked."

 _Huh?_

He froze.

 _What? Where's the connection between the two? How did this happen?_

He glanced at Nanu, signaling for him to take over, this time a mutual agreement was established.

"That is not for us to decide." Nanu took over yet again, pointing at the closed doors of the infirmary. "She's under the nurses' care, so you need to ask for their permission first. Pretty sure she's still out cold."

"I will, thank you Chief! Be back in a minute!"

Seeing Shaun trotting toward the nurses in the hall, Nanu turned towards him with yet another overwhelming glare. "She's your responsibility, so if anything happens..." He trailed off flatly, Looker couldn't even tell whether he was really mad or not. A black nausea was growing exponentially in his stomach after every step he followed Shaun.

"Damn! You've gotten yourself another faller!"

They met Shaun a few hours later, an almost child-like feverishness in his eyes and voice.

"… what is that supposed to mean?"

Somehow Shaun look even more puzzled than the two of them. "Huh? I thought you knew. Your partner, what was her name again…" Shaun scratched his head a little, he also wasn't good with names, "Ca…Cathie? She's one of the very few fallers that we've encountered! It was confirmed that she fell through the same hole as those beasts! She's coated with the radiation of the wormhole! That's why she was assigned as your partner, she was supposed to lure out the beast! The beast would be attracted to her, thinking that she's another wormhole!"

Clink.

That was probably the sound of a small glass puzzle piece, finally being locked into position, presenting him with the unbroken view of the completed puzzle.

Clink.

Or more like, the sound of all those glass puzzle pieces knocking together, smashing into each other, and breaking violently into even smaller pieces.

 _Why didn't anyone from the organization ever informed them of the potential risk of this mission?_

They weren't meant to know about the risks. They, or at least Cathie, wasn't meant to survive.

 _Why was Cathie assigned to be their partner, when she wasn't properly trained for intensive combat?_

She wasn't worth to be properly trained for combat, she was dead meat to them from the start.

 _Why was Cathie the only one targeted by the beast?_

She was the bait.

 _She was only a_ **bait.**

Clink.

He got the answers that he wanted.

 **In the worst possible way.**

"My seniors told me all about your partner, how she was found, the conditions that she was in, so I recognized all these symptoms of a faller at first sight! I was slightly concerned earlier… Fallers are rare, you know, there's only as many as 3 found in the official records. I feel sorry for her, Cathie, but now that you've got another one to fill the gap!"

That was the moment when the black nausea in his stomach engulfed him. It was like a vexing of the soul for what almost felt not human. It was twisted and distorted but it was something overwhelming. It burnt like fire lacing his veins and creeping up to his spine and his brain. He felt sick of Shaun and everyone else and everything else. The acidity of the nausea residing in his stomach was waiting to be spat out in the most foul and vulgar words. He wanted to scream them into Shaun's ears with every ounce of breath that dwelled in his lungs.

He didn't.

It wasn't Shaun's fault. Shaun didn't do anything wrong, he did nothing more than his job.

It was no one's fault other than his own.

"… This is exactly why I told you not to bring her back in the first place."

Looker turned his head around so abruptly that it sprained his neck. Shaun had left the halls already, most probably jolting back to his office, reporting the breaking news to his higher-ups. Nanu wasn't facing him and somehow looked a lot more humpbacked than he ever was.

"… So you knew it?" His eyes fixedly on Nanu's back while rubbing his strained neck, "You knew that she's one of those… fallers? You knew that she'd be somewhat tied to the beast?"

Nanu did not have the slightest intent of turning around, and this time Looker could not guess the look on his face. "It was one of my suspicions," he continued, "the wormhole radiation detection device was buzzing like crazy when she was around. It's only reasonable to assume that she fell out of the same wormhole as the beast."

Nanu sounded so matter-of-fact about this, saying this in the way he would've said his Persian enjoyed the magikarp snacks he bought the other day. He had always remained pragmatic in the most sentimental and detrimental circumstances. And Nanu's monotone sent him into a cold sweat every time.

"… what's gonna happen to her?"

"Funny that you'd ask," Nanu's voice now chilled him to the marrow of his bones, "you know exactly what's gonna happen to her, don't you?"

Yes, he knew exactly what's gonna happen to her.

He brought her to the headquarters only for her to be detained by his fellow policemen, but it's not any different from being in captivity or imprisonment.

Judging by the look on Shaun's face the UB investigation unit is not letting her go that easily.

Fallers are rare, he said. They should be treated like rare Pokemon, that's what Shaun would've also said, being kept and fed inside their little cages and to be utilized only when in absolute need.

She's going to become the second Cathie, her entire existence as an individual human being would mean nothing to them. She will only be used as a bait to those beasts, they wouldn't care in the slightest whether she's gobbled up or torn into shreds, it'd be lucky for her to even have a proper funeral.

 **He knew exactly what he had done to her.**

"… Oh God, what have I done. What have I done."

Nanu sighed and patted him hard on the shoulders. "…This isn't the first time where you had the best of intentions and the worst of results. You've basically ruined her, but what is done can't be changed. Whatever. I'm just gonna tell you not to be hard on yourself."

"… I gotta go tell her. I gotta warn her." Looker shook his head frantically to shake off his wavering thoughts, he was about to turn back to the isolation room.

"Tell her what exactly?" Nanu's hand that was patting him a few seconds ago was clamped onto his left shoulder, the back of his hands vein-laced. "Tell her that she's a so-called faller and doesn't belong here? That she's gonna be imprisoned here by righteous policemen like us?" He stressed satirically on the word 'righteous'. "That she's gonna become a bait to those beasts? That she's gonna die without a proper burial? Yeah, by all means, go tell her that." Nanu released him from his clamp and patted his shoulders again, this time vaguely heavier.

"… I gotta get her out of here." He didn't know where on earth that ludicrous confidence popped out of, but for a minute he was determined and fearless enough to do it.

"Stop fooling yourself." Nanu gave a snort of disbelief, "How do you think that's possible, now that you've basically handed her to them?"

Looker's fingers were desperately tugging at his hair, mumbling, "It shouldn't be this way… There's gotta be a way… There's gotta be a way…"

Nanu grabbed him by the tie almost abruptly and pulled him over in a staggering motion.

"So what if you managed to get her out of here?" Nanu hissed through gritted teeth, his heated breath puffed onto Looker's ears. "What do you think is going to happen after that? You're gonna become the traitor, the common enemy to the IPA, no different than a criminal at large." He paused for a second and glanced around to make sure that the surveillance camera isn't right above their heads, "and I'm probably gonna become an accomplice, like hell I'd want that."

Right

That's not going to happen under their watch.

"Oh and, she's gonna be wanted alive for sure, but you, honestly you'd be dead on your first week into hiding. You're probably gonna be shot dead by interpol given special access to guns. I've heard tons of rumors about that. "

Ta-thump.

There was a throbbing under his right eye again. He was always extra sensitive to the word "gun" and right at that moment he pictured a bullet penetrating his right eye. The graphic wreckage of his eyeball followed.

"Well, at least you wouldn't have to worry about the girl. They're not gonna hurt her. She's the jackpot, she's the rare Pokemon they're trying to catch by all means. They're gonna take her back to this exact same room. So nothing's changed except for getting yourself killed. Attaboy." Nanu released his tie from his clenched fist.

Ta-thump.

He leaned back onto the cold walls of the halls, sliding down as he lost his illusory strut of some sort. This time there wasn't a chair or a cushion underneath. He barely held himself together, somewhat managed to not collapse on the floor.

Nanu was right. He wished that he could say that Nanu was wrong, or at least make an attempt of rebuttal — like when Nanu told him to leave her at the PC. He was gravely wrong last time as well.

Nanu was right. Nothing would've changed. There was nothing that he could do to change it.

He wasn't equipped with the skills or guts to stand up against the whole of IPA in the first place.

He couldn't even save her. Yet he was talking big about bringing her home to her family.

Truly despicable of him.

He couldn't remember how he managed to fall asleep that night.

The pillows were fluffed, the temperature in the room was cool, even his favorite night light was on but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't sleep .

He couldn't remember how he got to the Headquarters the next morning.

Sliding into the driver's seat, buckling the seat belt, starting the engine, even steering and turning the wheel felt like a programmed task being completed. His body moved on its own and finished his routine. He did not think.

He couldn't even remember how he walked pass Nanu, with his grim face and all.

… Well that one he did remember.

"They said that the girl's awake," Nanu cutting to the chase as usual, without saying "good morning" or "how do you do" or any form of greeting. "I've talked to the nurses already, they've given us permission to see her for a few minutes. "

"… Tell her that I said hi."

Nanu raised his eyebrows. "Hmm, aren't you gonna go talk to her at least?"

"Well what am I supposed to say?" He raised his voice all of a sudden and hollered like the wounded beast. "'Good morning, young lady, I'm the reason why you're being kept in captivity'— is that what AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?"

But really, what was he supposed to say to her? What sort of expression should he wear upon seeing her?

…How was he supposed to face her?

Nanu rolled his eyes at his dramatic mood swing and snorted. "Well that's none of my business. You owe her, you know it. An apology, an explanation… but don't go about spitting it all out now."

Sigh.

"…Well at least tell Shaun that I'm away."

"I'm not gonna go up to that little peabrain and play nice. Just go already."

The isolation room was well away from the rest of the medical facility. Apparently the girl needed to be isolated till the radiation was taken care of, that's what Nanu told him at least. Nanu exchanged a few quick words with the nurse in charge, she nodded and signaled them to follow.

They were being guided into the visitation room and sat down in front of the visitor's table with a wide glass screen between them and whoever's inside. There were guards all around, two next to the entrance of the isolation room and one on the inside, all bolted up like ramrods. Everything made it feel like a visit to the prison. After leaving a short and brief "well I do have other things to deal with", Nanu patted him on the shoulders and left. He panicked for a second but swallowed back the plea of "stay with me" and counted every one of Nanu's steps that echoed down the hall.

Then the door on the inside slid open, and he saw Anabel. The girl was being helped onto the recliner in front of the reception glass. Her face was still rather pale, even a night worth of sleep wasn't enough to tint her cheeks with rose. The sleeves of the oversized patient gown dangled from her emaciated arms.

He wasn't ready to look her straight in the eye, so he tried to focus on her hands instead without making it too obvious. Her fingers were slender and frail, there was no muscle tone or fat and her skin was the only fine layer over the polished white bones underneath.

Zooming in. There were distinct needle marks on the back of her hands, it almost felt like holes burnt through her paper skin and drilled down to her glass bones. Whether it was from intravenous infusion, or from blood sampling, it was sure hard on her. He also had no idea what happened to her before and after Shaun left, he only hoped that they were at least gentle.

Looker shook his head, took a deep breath, and forged the widest grin he was capable of.

"Good morning, young lady! At least this time I made sure that I didn't make the same mistake."

The girl tilted her head a little, looking puzzled.

"Well, umm…" His hands were talking way before his lips teeth and tongue, gesticulating rather hastily. "Remember how I was like 'good morning young lady~' when you woke up on the beach yesterday? It was actually in the afternoon, probably around 3 to 4, so I made a fool of myself back then, har har…"

The girl didn't speak, lips pursed, brows knitted, looking even more so puzzled and… not amused in the slightest.

"E, ehem," upon noticing his failure at humor, he coughed deliberately to break the awkward silence. "Well I suppose you might not remember me, so I guess I'll have to introduce myself again…"

"Officer 100KR."

The girl's voice was a lot cooler than that he remembered. It probably would've been this way without the tremors. "I may have forgotten a lot about myself, but I do remember you."

His grin probably grew wider, exposing his bare teeth. "Oh my! It seems that your memory is in good shape! I guarantee that you'll start remembering things about yourself in no time! Don't you worry!"

Anabel stared at him like if she just heard the Onix and Cloyster joke for the first time.

"… Officer 100KR, we just met yesterday."

"… That, that is correct. But I'm still glad that you remember that!" He let out a rather dry laugh and scratched his head. "You're probably wanting for me to cut to the chase and cut all this small talk so… how are you?"

"I am well, thank you."

"What did the nurses say?"

"They said that I am not injured, but my body is in an unstable state and that I should avoid moving around much."

"Oh, phew, but I guess you should do as they say. What did Shaun —he's the one with the afro looking hair— what did he say?"

"I don't recall meeting such a person… judging by what you said about him, he would've made an impression."

"Yup! You rarely see a guy with his kinda hair anymore, but the secret is that's just his natural morning hair! I know, quite absurd right?" His fingers wiggled around his hair, making a comical attempt at shaping Shaun's puffy looking hair. "Oh and we were roommates for quite a while when we were in training, I had to comb his hair myself this one day because I can't stand that mess, man it took me like half a day..… "

"Please stop, Officer 100KR."

This was the second time that Anabel chimed in.

"Huh? Stop? Oh do you want me to cut the chatter after all alright I'll zip it and—"

"Please stop trying so hard to make me laugh, especially when you're not in the mood for it."

He unconsciously swallowed. Cold sweat ran off his forehead like condensation on a winter glass. He knew that he was being deliberate with the jokes but to think that his cover would be blown in less than 3 minutes. "… How could you be so sure? We've known each other for like what, a day?"

He locked eyes with her as if to prove a point, yet the moment he looked into them he was absorbed into the world that exists within the fields of lilac.

Her eyes were as calm as the gloaming skies after a tempest has erupted, with wisps of clouds strolling through, no longer carrying rain or ushering storm.

"That's what your heart told me."

 _…That's what my heart told her?_

His cheeks hurt from forcing that grin for so long. The corners of his lips fought to fall down and finally gave in; his mouth lied flat in a thin, morbid line.

"I don't know what happened to you… but at least, this act is not getting us anywhere." Something in her eyes didn't look her age. It was too calm. It was only something that an elder would have. "You've asked your questions earlier, it's my turn now. If something happened, please tell me."

His facade crumbled into real grimace.

"… I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"… Everything." There was no better way to put it.

"… Why exactly?"

He leaned in on the receiver and lowered his voice to his absolute rock bottom. "Miss Anabel. Aren't you questioning in the slightest, why are you being kept here?"

"Not exactly. I'd have to wait a while for my body to recover from this state. I am feeling relatively weak at the moment, the nurses are right."

"Other than that, don't you think that the explanation they give you is the tiniest suspicious?"

"Suspicious? Why would it be?"

"Do you have the faintest guess at what their ulterior motive is? Do you think you are merely a patient or a lost child to them? Do you know what you are to them?"

"… What's wrong, Officer 100KR?" Anabel blinked in unease as she sensed the gradual sharpening of his questions.

"… What if I tell you that, you have every reason to blame me?"

"Officer 100KR, now you're being ridiculous. How could I blame you in the slightest? I haven't even thanked you enough for saving my life earlier."

 _Oh God. She still believes in him. She still believes in them. She still believes that they are her savior. She still believes that the IPA is on her side. She still believes that they will bring her back home, back to Hoenn eventually._

 **OH HELL NO.**

He slammed his hands against the glass with the force enough to shatter the barrier. That gave Anabel quite a fright, eyes widening, also earning him a scolding from the nurse on duty.

 _Stop sounding like you've known it all, you don't have the faintest idea of what you've gotten yourself into!_ He wanted to get it all off his chest, it was pounding like a roaring thunder in his eardrums, a burning ball of heat resides in his atrium searing at his atrial wall. _You know nothing about these people, what they've done and what they're going to do to you. You have no idea about your tragic demise that was settled the moment you got into their hands. You have no idea what I've done to you._

He wanted to tell her everything. Everything that the IPA will kill to hide from her. Everything that she has the right to know.

He didn't.

It was just too dark and too ugly for this unworldly girl.

His hand slid down the glass slowly in defeat, trails of sweat misted over of the glass screen, combined with his heavy breathing.

"… I'm sorry. Please forget what I've said. I'm talking nonsense. I really am." Looking down at his feet, he heard his own voice choking but he felt no tears. "I don't know what to say. What can I say? I really don't know anymore."

She lowered her gaze as well, eyelashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly. As if trying to calm the wounded beast in him, she reached forward and pressed her fingertips against his own, gently but firmly.

They weren't touching, but for a split second the glass felt so thin that it was nonexistent. It may have melted from the soothing warmth coming from her petite hand. He didn't deserve this warmth, he knew it, and yet he allowed the wounded beast in him to be stroked by her soft, mollifying fingers.

"Then don't. Don't say anything."

And yet another few days passed as Looker continued to live on as a member of the walking dead.

He wasn't exactly a living corpse or anything, but he felt like he had lost his ability to feel.

He had seen, known and lost just a bit too much over these few days.

He visited Anabel on a daily basis, and making his best attempt to avoid Shaun on the way. He didn't know what to say to her as usual, so he merely asked her dry questions about the recovery of her body and her memory. So far, apart from her name and Hoenn, she was able to recall that she "protected a tower" and "was a considerably competent trainer" of some sort.

Still far off from completing the big picture, and insufficient for him to carry out a search. But a few days ago he had an investigation planned out in the back of his head on his way back to the HQ: Starting with all case files of missing children reported in Hoenn, search for matching names and features, file a missing person report for her, contact the Hoenn branch of IPA, possibilities of child abduction should not be overlooked as well…

But he knew that it'd be pointless now.

She wasn't supposed to exist in this world. It is only reasonable to assume that there is no lilac eyed Anabel Whateverherlastnameis the tower protector in the Hoenn that he knew.

And even after that revoltingly fate-determining night, she acted as a bigger person than him. He was depressed, anyone would've known judging by that grim look on his face, like the world would end at any second; but out of all the people, she was the one to comfort him, the one telling him that it's all going to be ok. He didn't even have the guts to say it to her. It was making him sick of himself even more so.

On the way back, he overheard the conversation of some staff of the UB department. They were going to clear out Cathie's room in the dorm. Nothing of surprise, he knew that it would be done eventually. He stopped them and requested that he'd do the job himself— in memory of his perished partner that he's only met once. The staff were confused by his request but he insisted.

So there he was, standing outside of her room with the key card in his hand.

Cathie's room was by the corner, almost all on its own. She probably would've never known how close her room was to the UB department, and will never have the chance to know. He shook that thought off his mind and pushed the card inside the keycard lock.

The door buzzed open.

Cathie's room was no larger than a singles hotel room. He didn't know how long she had been living in this room but she sure made herself at home. Her comforter was pulled over her bed, even though she hadn't cleaned it for a few days. The result was lumps of varying sizes and shapes and the comforter was weighed down by her clothes and plush pillows scattered over it. A desk sat in one corner, littered with wadded up pieces of paper and pens.

There was a notebook that managed to grab his eye on her littered desktop. On the cover convoluted gold letters drew out the word 'Journal' and on the right hand corner a black sharpie printed in bubble letters 'property of Cathie'. The journal sat heavy in the palm of his hand. It wasn't a large or particularly thick, but his passed partner once lived inside it. She was gone but this was the window into her life.

Would he want to know? Would it be a violation to her memory to read it? Did the dead care for their privacy? He fingered the cover, tracing the bubble letters on the rough papery cover. But he needed the answers from someone else other than Shaun. He paid his respects by bowing to the journal in a rather comical fashion and flipped its cover over to the very first page.

"Thank you Miss Nurse for giving me a journal! It's been a few weeks since I was being hospitalized here at the IPA and I'm still rather feeble ( ´Д` ) The nurses are helping me with rehabilitation, the researcher guy who came a few days earlier said that I will need to regain my physical strength and mobility asap. He seemed rather serious and I don't know why. I don't really remember anything but I doubt that I was a fitness person back then… but no pain no gain ( *•̀ᴗ•́* )✧"

She was quite the emoji lover, if he ever texted her he would be bombarded by emojis, Looker thought as he flipped through another few pages. To his disappointment nothing much about her rehabilitation caught his eye, and he knew for sure that the UB department kept everything under their hats. He stopped at a random page after thumbing through.

"I was given my Pokemon partners, probably if I am to participate in any upcoming missions! That Ninetales though, SHE'S SUCH A BAE ((o(๑◡๑)o)) I never would've guessed so but SHE'S A MAMA! Her baby vulpix is the CUTEST THING ON EARTHHHH *･゜ﾟ･.:*･'(* ω ฺ* )'･*::･゜ﾟ･* I asked someone around what would be a good name and she said there's an older name for them, the elderly people in Alola call them "Keokeo"! But I think I'll name the baby Lilac just because this name is made for her! My heart is about to burst but who am I kidding it was blew up a few hours ago *:.。. o(≧ω≦)o .。.:* 

So that's where her Pokemon came from. But there was no record of Pokemon combat training in her later entries. They only did train her up to the point of rehabilitation and all there is was for her to lure out the beast. That was all there is to it.

Flip.

"Keokeo acknowledged me as her new trainer quick enough, but baby Lilac was still a little tense around me (´･Д･)」But honestly the way that Lilac hides under Mama's tails is too cute I died for a second ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄"

Flip.

"OOOOO GOD LILAC JUST LICKED THE BACK OF MY HAND BLESS THE LORD ( *´艸`*) I was rubbing her under the chin and I guess she liked it! And she allowed me to hold her on my lap OH GOD OH GOD I THINK DIED LIKE A MILLION TIMES ALREADY _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_⁄"

Now he remembered how Cathie just couldn't stop babbling about her shiny baby vulpix on the boat ride, it was giving cramps to his ears. She said that they took hundreds of kissy photos back at her room, he had a gut feeling that he's going to run into one glued into of her entry. Flip.

"Awwwww Lilac is such a sweet girl (❁´▽`❁) When I woke up today I saw her and her Mama…"

Flip.

" (。▰‿‿▰｡) ❤ Today baby Lilac learned to…"

Yeah she's just not gonna stop. He saw it coming.

Flip. Flip. Flip. Flip.

"Today is gonna be my IPA mission debut! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)✧ God I can't sleep that's why I'm writing this entry at 1 in the morning! Keokeo and Lilac are both asleep I had to be extra quiet :3 The officers told me that it will be an investigation of an unknown Pokemon, I hope that I'll be able to help out with my utmost ability! I'll be meeting up with my partners tomorrow and honestly this feels bomb! It just sucks that Lilac is too young to be on a mission… I am totally rooting for her to be a future super agent! What will Lilac be like when she evolves like her Mama I can't wait for the day to come (*・∀・)ノ゛ "

Flip.

And after that came a crisped white blank page.

He blinked hard at it, then a rather brutal realization struck him that this was her very last journal entry before her demise. It held him in a trance for a while; while reading through the entries he could almost see her in this room, on her cluttered bed grooming Lilac's fur, on this littered desk writing every entry with an almost silly looking beam.

He took the journal and placed it carefully in a layer of his bag. After clearing out her belongings he would bury it in place of her. Having that thought in mind, he opened up the curtains that hung in dusty, uneven folds, and heard startled squeaking coming from the bottom right hand corner of the folds.

A little head of cloudy lilac fluff popped out from the back of the side panel, those frightened purple orb-like eyes were gazing at him fixedly.

So this must be Lilac. He immediately recognized the little vulpix. It'd be impossible to forget about Lilac after reading through that journal, it was basically an observation logbook dedicated to her.

"Well hello, you must be Lilac." He bent down and reached out a hand to her, in an attempt of peace offering, "I've heard tons about you from Cathie. I'm 100kr, and I'm a… friend of Cathie's."

Lilac wasn't in any way reassured, and instead hid a larger portion of her head behind the panel folds, now only the large purple orbs are showing, the folds are shivering like wind rattled leaves. When he reached his hand closer in an attempt to pet the fluff on the top of her head, she yelped in panic and in response bit his index finger, probably straining every single muscle to do so. It stung for a little, it surprised him how frosty her bite was but it didn't hurt as much.

He understood it as an act of defending her territories, he was the intruder to their little cozy home after all.

The moment she leaped out from behind the curtains, she started scurrying around the room with short, high pitched yelps, her round eyes circling around the room from the roof to the bottom of the bed like a surveillance camera. She then stopped at his feet and let out another round of hasty yelps.

She was looking for Cathie.

Of course she was. Cathie hasn't returned for days.

He was certain that Lilac was asking him what happened to her trainer, her dearest friend and her mother figure. Was there a scent on him that was recognized as Cathie's? All he could remember was that mud like patch of blood on the shoulders of his overcoat, the stains were washed off already but he knew that it will always be there.

He couldn't remember how many times it was that he failed to give an answer.

So he didn't.

Lilac was too young to understand what happened to her trainer, she kept on yelping, probably on the verge of tears, probably thinking that Cathie had abandoned her to live the rest of her life in this little dorm room.

"She didn't abandon you, I promise."

He bent down and reached out a hand to stroke the fluff on her head. Lilac flinched again, yet this time didn't object by biting him. He continued stroking it, and started mumbling almost to himself, "Cathie is … sick. She wouldn't be able to take care of you for a while. And you might be unable to see her for quite a while."

He almost bit his tongue while he delivered this lie. All he had to do was to clear this room and lie to a baby Vulpix about the whereabouts of her trainer, and yet he knew that by the looks of it he was no different than a five year old lying about the missing pokebeans from the candy jar, the only difference was that he didn't chew on his fingernails or lips.

…When was it that he lost that basic ability to tell lies?

"I'm sorry, Lilac. I know that it isn't exactly what you want to hear from me."

Probably sensing the misery in the tone of his voice, Lilac reached for his hands and licked the index finger that she bit, her icy little tongue making its best attempt of skimming off the bite mark, also skimming off the nonexistent dust laid upon it. There was a soft glimmer in her lucid eyes, with an inkling of wistfulness. Somehow that reminded him of the girl, Anabel. They both share that tint of tender lilac in their eyes.

"But I happen to know another girl like you, that also left her family. Do you want me to take you to her?"

"Is that a… Vulpix?" Anabel squinted her eyes and leaned in, her face and hands glued to the glass screen as she examined the baby Vulpix from head to toe.

"Yup~! Right in front of your very eyes!" Looker's voice floated a bit like he's on cloud nine. After what felt like mountains of application papers he had to fill out followed by hours of thorough safety and hygiene inspection, Lilac had finally been approved to enter the isolation room. The feeling of accomplishment was unknown to him for the past week and now he's filled up with it from head to toe.

"But it's… white? And slightly purple? A shiny?"

"Well at least we know for sure that you're totally not from around here!" Looker's hands were dancing around way more than they used to, "I know what you're talking about, I've seen the fire vulpix from Kanto, but this baby is our own Alolan vulpix! And yes a shiny one too!" He fluffed the cloud of fluff on top of her head, disregarding Lilac's yelps of protest against him messing up her hair.

There was an affectionate glow on her face, her cheeks tinted faintly with pink. "She's lovely… what's her name?"

"May I present to you… little Lilac! Like the flower, like the color!"

"She has a name just right for her."

"Exactly! Oh and a fun fact the native elders here call them by an older name Keokeo!" He threw it in as a random trivia from Cathie's journal, but recalled soon after that the Keokeo he knew was deceased as well. "That doesn't really fit into the current context so just know that this is Lilac and remember Keokeo in the back of your head alright?"

Anabel nodded and hummed in response, but he doubt that she really kept her ears open for the trivia. This girl's eyes were glued to Lilac ever since she was brought into the reception room. "Where did she come from?"

"Well, Lilac used to be my partner's Pokemon, but… she…" there was a split second that he almost faltered and failed that half-lie, but he soon picked himself up and continued, "she couldn't take care of Lilac anymore. I thought that... you know... both of you needed the company."

It was getting unintentionally emotional and Looker decided to cut the sentiments right there. Anabel also looked like she couldn't afford to wait another second to get hands on with Lilac. "I'm gonna let her in ok?" He handed Lilac to the nurse for her to be delivered into the room. Lilac blinked, probably puzzled by her change of address again, but nevertheless behaved well and sat in the nurse's arms obeyingly. She was let onto the reception table where Anabel rested her arms, and he could tell that Anabel inhaled slightly more air than usual.

"Try touching her." Anabel did. She wasn't at all nervous or stiff around Lilac, she's a natural, maybe she was as competent of a trainer she said she used to be. Her soft fingers landed on the cloudy fluff and quickly withdrew them as she gasped from the icy sensation. "How is she so cold!"

"It'd be kinda bad if she's not! Ohhh I haven't told you yet, Lilac is an ice type!"

"That's insane! From what I remember…"

"The Kanto Vulpix is a fire type, warm and fuzzy, I know, I know~" Looker chuckled a little from the way she was hastily puffing on her fingers to warm it up. "But again, everything's different from Kanto or Hoenn so you better get used to that for a while! "

Lilac wasn't as mousy as she was when he encountered her at the corner of Cathie's room. She probably considered him an intruder back then, a colossal one too— he is considered tall for a man of his age. She started sniffing around the newcomer — this one isn't as humongous and intimidating, the icy tip of her little nose was giving Anabel ticklish giggles. After sensing that they share the same tint of lilac in their eyes and curls, Lilac licked the soft hand that was tickling her chin.

"I think she's gotten used to your presence, wanna try holding her?" Looker winked encouragingly, "she's light enough, give it a shot."

After stroking her for a few times and sensing no tension from Lilac's body, Anabel placed a hand under her belly, and the other under her hindquarters. Having made sure that Lilac was accepting of being picked up, she held the little Vulpix in front of her chest with almost overflowing adoration from her eyes.

Thumbs up from Looker as he gestured for her to continue with bonding. "See? You got the hang of it right away. Now try holding her on your lap!"

Anabel did, slowly and cautiously as if laying down a marked fragile object. Lilac wasn't used to being on such bony laps, her little paws stamping over Anabel's patient gown as she then tried to make her way up onto her shoulders.

"Good, good girl, Lilac, stay still… uhhh please don't try to climb on me it's making me feel uneasy….. Gahhhhhh!" What he saw left him dumbfounded for a few seconds, but immediately cracked him up into laughter — Lilac fell into her patient gown through the wide collar and started twiddling and twisting and bunny kicking, her little limbs jacking up the striped fabric from the inside— like a veiled game of Whac-a-Digglet.

Anabel was screaming, not in pain — a rather light-hearted scream, there is no such thing but he couldn't find a better way to put it. Lilac's tails were brushing across her chest and abdomen and she was tickled pink. On the intervals of gasps for breaths she made her utmost attempt to hold and lift her out from the collar, yet it only triggered another round of violent scrambling and she was screaming even louder and almost rolling on the floor. He saw the guards that stood as straight as a ramrod twitched edgily and the nurse running up to her instantly, lifting her gown up to allow an exit pathway for Lilac.

There were wet patches made of Lilac's little icy paws in front of her chest, he looked away as the nurse helped her out of the chilled gown and wrapped her in a warm blanket. Anabel was shuddering from the after-chill even though Lilac had leaped out of her gown. Looker zipped his lips shut, worrying if the cold got to her body, his bundle of nerves felt on edge.

But upon taking a second look, he found, both out of astonishment and reassurance, that she was laughing. This time a whole blown laugh.

The laugh came from her like a newly sprung leak - it was timid at first, constantly stopping and restarting. She wasn't done just yet, he could tell from the way she rolled her lilac eyes to the ceiling and half bit her lip. And from inside her chest came a gradual quivering and this time the laughter came like the sounds of bright silver wind chimes. It was music to his ears.

The laugh was in her eyes, the windows to her soul, and in the way her face finally changed into that vision of relaxed joy and unrestrained mirth.

"I love her. Thank you so much for bringing her to me."

Now that's the kind of thank you he wanted to hear from her. Not "I haven't thanked you enough for saving my life".

This is it.

The corners of his lips couldn't help themselves from raising up a cheery angle. The girl's laugh was contagious and heartening, it was like being bathed in sunshine, and he knew no one that would ever resist the sun's unconditional love.

At least he was capable of making good decisions from time to time. This one he wouldn't regret in the slightest.

That's what he told himself.


	3. Chapter 3: vs Alolan Meowth

"The whereabouts of the Team Rocket Boss Giovanni was always unknown, but the IPA had never stopped hunting for him, even if all the arrested grunts had failed to tell anything about his future plans. Then suddenly, we were informed that they've finally discovered Giovanni's location: The Viridian Gym."

He glanced at her furtively to see her reaction. Anabel's eyes were locked fixedly on him, completely absorbed into his story; her chin rested on one palm, while the other palm held the mini poke beans for Lilac to munch away during story time.

"It was two years ago, when I was still a rookie under internship with a senior of mine."He saw the girl mouthing the words "Mr Nanu" and shook his head. "Ah, no, not Nanu… That night, I was part of the squadron of interpol to arrive at the Viridian Gym. The IPA called in the special SWAT officers equipped with riot gear. We were ordered to surround the Gym in three man teams, and were told to take caution against Giovanni, he was rumored to be a very skilled and strategic trainer."

"And then?"

"Shaun was there with me as well, he was more of a back up…but, he is skilled hacker and there was this one time where he hacked into our dorm's… ehem, sorry, that was irrelevant." He cleared his throat in amends for going off topic and in attempt to set himself back on track. "Him and his Magnemite quickly broke through the front door's electronic lock and disabled the Gym's lockdown mode. And so we entered. Another team broke through the walls with the help of their Machamp, mine used our Arcanine's Flamethrower to melt a hole into the wall. We're getting closer and closer to the centre of the Gym."

"Then? What happened after that?" The girl was biting her lips again, she does that whenever her nerves are on edge or whenever she failed to say something right. She was also clenching so tight onto her handful of mini poke beans that she was flattening them and crushing them into little cracked chunks. Lilac yelped in displeasure but her little friend was too nerve-wracked to notice it.

"No need to get tense!" He patted her clenching knuckles lightheartedly. "We rushed in only to find an empty battle room. Giovanni was never found in the Viridian Gym. A follow up investigation later revealed that Giovanni was actually the Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym. I know right? Absolutely shocking." He added after seeing the girl's hand clasped against her wide open mouth. "Apparently after handing badges to two trainers, he had simply disappeared. There were rumors about Team Rocket having been disbanded, although the truth is still shrouded in deep mist."

He shook his head a little disconcertedly and gave the final remark: "Giovanni, I could never read that guy."

"How old are you, Mr 100kr?"

"26, why do you ask?" He wasn't quite expecting a question about age.

"It's just… you look too young to be a veteran of the IPA, yet here you are already participating in all these remarkable missions. No, nothing offensive intended I swear!" Upon noticing that commenting on his age may understate Looker's lack of experience, she waved her hand around hastily trying to amend for her 'inappropriate word choice', "It's just… really impressive, Mr 100kr, I'm just trying to pay my utmost respects."

He chuckled and made a palms-down calming gesture. "Quite the compliment from you, thank you very much. But hear this…" He closed in on her, lowering his voice enigmatically, "I've been meaning to change my code name for quite a while."

"Oh really? Let's hear it." Anabel lowered her head as well, tapping a little drum rolls, a child like twinkle in her eyes. It's been a few months since she's been kept at the Headquarters and finally she's acting her age. He cleared his throat and delivered the query.

"… so what do you think about… Mr Handsome?"

"Do that and I'll kick you out of the IPA myself." Nanu's cold voice floated into the room uninvited, "Anabel, do me a favor and tell him that there's no way I'm calling him that. It's time to go."

"Come on!" Looker groaned loudly as Nanu burst his bubble. "I was thinking that I could use a more casual and less old school kind of code name! Then what… Stunner? Looker? Knockout? Oh wait I haven't tried things in other languages yet… LeBelle? Bellocchio? Pan Ciacho? There's gotta be one that works!"

Nanu had his arms crossed, feet tapping, tongue clicking loudly, the three being the universal code of 'I'm waiting'. "You want some feedback? Dipshit is the name for you. And again, it's time to go. Well see you later, but this dipshit is probably gonna come again tomorrow." Nanu nodded goodbye to Anabel and started dragging him out by the back of his collar.

"I'm not even asking you!" He grunted as he nodded goodbye to her, Anabel chuckled at the sight and waved goodbye as well. Turning his head back to Nanu, "Can you just not butt into our decision making, Anabel almost had a name in mind!"

"I think Looker suits you."

He turned back sharply and it almost sprained his neck, Anabel still waving goodbye with the same jovial beam painted on her cheeks. Then the door closed behind them.

"So she actually thinks that you're a looker?" Nanu shot him a look with squinted eyes and shook his head unbelievably. "Poor kid, the radiation got to her eyes."

"No it did not." He retorted on that with a little triumphant grin. "Stop denying the fact that I'm a looker. She chose it for me, so Looker it is."

"As long as it's not Mr Handsome I have no objections." Nanu rolled his eyes to the ceiling and strode down the hall.

Yes, Looker it is. He'll have to run down to the registration office sometime later and make the change.

* * *

It's been a few months since Anabel was brought back to the HQ and she was finally removed from the isolation room into the rehabilitation centre. For the first time after months he was finally able to visit her without a glass barrier erected in-between them.

He wasn't at leisure of course, it's still the IPA after all. Barely had enough time on his hands from all the follow up work with Nanu, not even mentioning what felt like tons of reports and meetings; but whenever he could afford to squeeze a chunk of time out of his schedule, he'd go and visit her.

Usually they'd have lunch together, or if she was getting more than enough of sleep that day, a bedside brunch. Out of all the smalltalk topics that they've gone over, she particularly enjoyed hearing stories about his past missions as a trainee, an IPA rookie up the point that he became an independent interpol. Lilac would be by their side, usually gazing wide-eyed trying her best to understand the story, but ended up dozing off on the bed curling into a ball of fluff.

But if the weather is extra fine like today— sun drenched without a cloud in the sky, breezy but only to rustle the leaves and grasses— Anabel would have the nurses' permission to take a stroll in the courtyard, under his and Kristen's supervision. And yet Kristen was never interested in smalltalk, especially other people's smalltalk, she would always be around but only within a circle of 40 m radius. And that leaves the two of them, free to engage in their smalltalk and story telling.

"Alright Miss Anabel…"

He heard her giggles. "Please just call me Ana. No Miss needed!"

"Alright Ana! What kind of story would you like to hear today?"

"Could you tell me about a story of you and your Pokemon friends?"

"My Pokemon friends it is! Let me see…" He started folding down his fingers one by one for each year that passed. "It was probably four or five years ago when I was first assigned my partner Croagy. I've had partners during training but they were only temporary, Croagy was my first real partner. Trust me when I say that he's my senpai as an interpol, he's a true legend, I don't even know where to start, but let's start by his face-off with the Heatran…"

He couldn't remember how long he kept on talking about them. How little but mighty Croagy always saved the day, how Growly was a Pokemon of his passed friend and how Pekky was added to his team upon his first arrival at Alola Region. How Growly would let him ride on his back when he was in the mood for some bolting. How Pekky had a crush on Nanu's Hochkrow… no not even a crush she was already making a move on him. How Croagy would secretly put a blanket over him if he fell asleep on the couch but wouldn't admit that it was him.

He couldn't stop. He didn't want to stop. He forgot how long he kept on telling stories until he ran out of them.

Those times were bitter sweet like concentrated Tapu Coco with 70% or more Coco than Moomoo milk. It was a mixture of pleasure and pain, a pleasurable pain, a painful pleasure, he couldn't tell. Poignancy, nostalgia, sentimentality, none of these words were able to describe the feeling completely or accurately. All he knew that he wasn't telling these stories in a sense of memorial, he was telling them like if they just happened yesterday, as if they were all… still with him.

Yet he wasn't as mentally prepared as he thought he'd be for the next question.

"Did you bring them with you? Can I please say hi to Croagy?"

 **No you wouldn't be able to. Croagy was being torn into halves by UB05.**

"It's too bad but Croagy doesn't work with me anymore." That's what he heard himself say. "He was a much higher ranking agent than me… so they called him back after the missions."

"Aw…" The girl's lower lip protruded into an upset pout, cheeks slightly puffed. "What about Growler?"

 **Growly was crushed by that Heavy Slam.**

"Ahh Growly, he was quite the monstrous basher, the SWAT officers really missed him to power through riots so he's back on the team again."

"Pekky? Pekky's gotta be here at least."

 **Pekky was the first one gone. She was swallowed whole by that gruesome pincer.**

"Unfortunately she is not. She's back at the HQ as well, awaiting further instructions. My Pokemon partners were all competent agents on their own after all." He added.

"That's too bad, I was really looking forward to meeting them all! But I'm do hope that you'll get to work with them later, Mr Looker!"

If only I am death itself… Looker wanted to say.

He didn't.

"I hope so too." That's what he said instead.

Anabel smiled, the way her lips lifted upwards and the way that her dimples crinkled was genuinely sweet.

They were walking past the rehab centre's own Cheri trees and Anabel could not take her eyes away from them. In spring the branches of Cheri trees are clothed with its own white blossoms, the earth beneath was dappled with the shadows of their fluttering petals, gently conducting a spring symphony. The air was perfumed by the rich scent of it, the sweet fragrance with a tint of piquancy. Their scent becomes diffuse in the warming breeze flowing like a veiled trail, and Anabel held her head high to savor it.

"As expected from a tree that gives Cheri berries," He wrinkled his nose a little as the piquancy spiced him for a few seconds. "Have you tried them before? If you're not a big fan of spicy food I advise you not to."

"I think so…" Anabel licked her lips ever so slightly, "I don't remember liking the taste of it though."

"Ha! Me too. Gets my tongue swelling for days. Somehow Croagy was loving it, he used to munch on them for days…"

"Croagy would never to impress me. Putting the spicy berries aside…" She lifted her chin to gaze at the cloud of blossoms above their heads, "I could sit under this sweet tree for hours, or even nap a a little… Of course I won't have the nurses' permission."

Anabel was on her tiptoes as she made her utmost attempt to reach for a perfectly star shaped blossom. The mottled light cast upon the side of her face was predominantly shaped by petals and leaves, with a trickle of ray blooming in her eye. Her sun kissed eyelashes looked as if they were dipped in golden honey, so was the glowing layer of peach fuzz on her cheeks.

Everything was as fine as an almost still framed instant photograph, until Anabel's hand closed on a patch of air as she lost her balance and was on the verge of falling.

His body was on the act faster than his mind or his words will ever be, catching her between his arms before her face would kiss the ground.

"Are you alright Ana?"

"I'm, I'm alright! I think I just slipped! Sorry for that!" The girl's voice was a little flustered, she was inhaling slightly more air than usual.

"Do you think you'll need help? I'll call Kristen over right now." He was about to turn back to the building when Anabel tugged at the sleeves of his overcoat.

"Please don't tell Ms Kristen…" She begged, both of her hands were now on the wrist of his sleeves and clearly not letting go. "If she knows of it I won't be able to step outside for another week. I'm fine, it's just the rehabilitation and everything, plus the sun was just in my eye. I'm really fine, Mr Looker, please don't tell Ms Kristen or anyone!"

Aw look at her, being childlike and acting her age and all that. There was a growing grin on his face that he was probably unconscious of as he patted her hands reassuringly. "I promise that I won't tell her, but we're heading back inside now okay?"

"… Okay." Anabel nodded obeyingly, her hands letting go of his sleeve, and started dragging her feet away from the Cheri tree.

"But before we go back inside… you wanted the Cheri blossom didn't you?"

His hand reached for the branch with ease, if anything he didn't have to be on his tippy toes to reach it. He plucked out the perfectly star-shaped Cheri blossom that she was aiming for, and with both hands gently pinned it behind her ears. He took the hairpin originally holding back her bangs to secure it in place. Of course it gave rise to great aesthetic pleasure, it was like a snowy blossom sprouting out of a field of lilac.  
"Ahh, it does make a great hairpin." He commented on what almost felt like his own masterpiece of art.

Yet he failed to understand why Anabel was exceptionally quiet on the way back and had a queer blush on her cheeks. It was getting hot in the afternoon, she said, he didn't quite buy that.

* * *

He knocked thrice on Nanu's door before entering. They were to attend another meeting of the UB task force, this time regarding the closure of the Wormhole and the other potentially sighted Unidentified Beasts… No, they're calling them Ultra Beasts now. It doesn't change the fact that they're still UBs. After Nanu's "come in" was heard, he stepped in and found a Meowth curled around Nanu's neck like a cat scarf.

"Oh look at you, getting yourself a new pal?"

"Meet Yasu." Nanu turned to his shoulders and petted his Meowth lovingly, everything was looking fine, except "petting" and "lovingly" doesn't fit into Nanu's character and it was giving Looker the creeps. "No, he is not a new pal of mine, I do happen to have a whole clowder of them back home. With the eldest of the clowder gone I guess I'll have to evolve another one into my partner in battle."

"You're sure fickle in your affection huh."  
"Uh excuse you, this isn't anything close to abandoning the old. If anything my team wasn't completely wiped out… like a particular someone's?"

"… Ouch."

"Need a burn heal or something?" Nanu shook a can of iced lemonade infront of his eyes with a smug grin just like his Meowth, if anything Nanu was even smuglier than his Meowth.

"… You win and yes please." There was a little mischievous grin on his face as he snatched the lemonade from Nanu's hands. Before Nanu could retrieve it, he ran ahead in the hall, pulled the ring of the can open and took a big swig until half a can of lemonade was gone.

The sight of Nanu's eyebrows twitching made him crack up a little on the inside. "Since did you learn to do that… you sneaky little crook."

"IPA taught me well." He tossed the almost empty can back to Nanu, who snorted and caught it single-handedly, then within a split second tossed it into the recycling bin behind him without looking back.

"So, what feelings do you hold for that girl?"

This was a question that he wasn't expecting for, if he was still sipping on the lemonade he would've definitely choked on it.

"Ana… Anabel? Why do you ask?"

"Nothing in particular, you just seem to care for her a lot more than any of your former comrades and friends."

"… She's at most a 15 year old, clueless about herself and this world, it's only natural for me to keep an eye out for her." His voice wasn't as steady as he thought it would be. He knew that this is the right answer, this is the right thing to say and what he meant to say, but he almost sounded like Anabel from months ago when she was even hesitant to say her name out loud.

He heard Nanu snorting. "Well you could say that you've done a fabulous job. That girl has grown quite fond of you, are you aware of that?"

"… No."

"Are you really as thick as I think you are, it's all in the eyes. Or more like … the same goes for you, correct?"

"… Not true."

Nanu stopped without giving any form of a heads up, making him bump into him. Nanu turned around, the scarlet of his eyes no longer igneous like the deadly flares he had once seen, but it held no warmth at all, a cold calculating calm like a frozen glass of wine.

"Why are you so attached to her, 100kr?" He hated how Nanu's eyes were dissecting him from head to toe with the least bit of strength put in, but felt like talons clawing out every inch of his inners.

"But why do I ask, I know exactly why."

His heart almost skipped a beat. He knew exactly what Nanu was about to say. Nanu would start by bringing out Cathie's name, saying how as he could not turn back time like Palkia, the least he could do to repent for her death is to prevent the same from happening to Anabel, he's only trying to make himself feel better for his own selfish little reasons. He knew it word by word because he knew that Nanu knows it all and it is all true.

"… I am not. She's my responsibility, you said so yourself."

Nanu shrugged and turned around back to walking. "Whatever you say. Needless for me to tell you how dangerous it is to be emotionally attached to something when you're in the IPA. For you, and more so for her."

"… I understand."

His footsteps felt much heavier, making metallic clink clunks that echoed on the floor, almost like his legs were filled with lead.


	4. Chapter 3-2: vs Alolan Meowth

"Day 6. No signs of Mr Looker."

Half-sat on her bed, Anabel eyed the weather outside of the window, the clouds that had been wispy and white that morning were now darkened and densified, shades of grey had carpeted the skies; a few wisps of light managed leak through the little holes in the carpet but otherwise it was as dark as pre-dawn.

The nurses came to close the window from the heavy air, with the dampness that smelt of a coming storm. The Pokemons outside would've sensed its arrival and to seek shelter, only the water types or oddballs like Goomy would want to brace themselves with the downpour.

It was like if the sky is overwhelmed with emotions, tears were threatening to unleash themselves upon her. She felt them. She knew that they were there.

It was the sixth day without the presence of Mr Looker, and she had already been developing a paranoia over it. She hated herself for it, but hated even more so of the fact that she couldn't help it.

Her pre-paranoid trail of thoughts looked something along the lines of… this:

Did something happen to Mr Looker? Last time he said that he'd be around soon but that was not the case, was there an emergency? Is he alright?

Was it because of work? Mr Looker is a very skilled Interpol after all, he had been involved in quite a lot of things for the past few months … Is he still in the HQ? Did he leave for another mission? He wasn't obliged to come visit her but now she couldn't bear his absence.

Or… was it because of her?

Was there something about her that wasn't right?

Did she say something wrong, or do something wrong, like… a week ago when he was taking her outside for a walk？She knew that she shouldn't have tiptoed to reach that flower she made a fool of her self infront of him. Of course all she ever wanted was to look all feeble and frail infront of him. She hated herself so much the moment she slipped on the lawn and prayed for a hole for her to fall through to be right below her.

She didn't know how she felt about being caught and held by him. She probably would've blushed a little back then, could that be what was done wrong? But she couldn't help it, he was so close literally 3 inches away from her face… She didn't have the nerves to stare at his face so her gaze was somewhere else, the clear and hale jawline of his face, the prominent Adam's apple of his neck, his hands too, the hand that held her was a lot larger than her own, fingers shaped by their prominent phalange bones…

A burning sensation came from the side of her cheeks again. She shook her head rather violently to swipe the explicit snapshots out of her mind, yet immersed herself in another round of self-abasing thoughts.

Anabel knew of the mental disorder named schizophrenia somewhere in the back of her head, did not know of the causes and symptoms of it, but felt like the condition she's in right now would be somewhat qualified. She heard voices of various little people in her head, one frantically judging her for these selfish thoughts, one desperately defending herself, "Mr Looker is such a great person and the only one that cares about her" he or she said; the consoling one tried to sooth her with "you're overthinking this", and she couldn't even bear to deal with the pessimistic one.

"Just because he's the only one you have doesn't mean the same goes for him."

But Miss Pessimistic is right, Mr Looker is the only one she had. Lilac kind of counts, but it's something different. She was truly left with nothing.

Not even herself.

She wouldn't know how cliched of a heartache this would be because she couldn't remember reading any sort of romance or love based novels.

Finally there came a voice that was not her own or the various little people in her brain. It was Lilac, she rolled off the bed and was yelping to be picked up from the floor. The sight of Lilac may have brought a grin to her face ever so slightly, as she bent down to stroke the cloud fluff of the little Vulpix.

Lilac had been a fast bloomer over the months, she was the only size of a palm and half when Anabel first held her in quarantine, and now Lilac had grown to a full-fledged Watmel berry… not as round but at least the size of it.

As for herself…

She looked up at the dressing mirror by the wall. She'd still be called skinny, but not as "skin and bones" as she was 3 or 4 months ago, there's actually some flesh under her skin which actually had the presence of (a bit of) color and elasticity. Still haven't gained enough weight to fit the oversized patient gown. Her hair was growing way faster though, as her bangs were dangling over her eyes and had to be pinned to the side.

Over the few months in quarantine and rehabilitation her hair had grown to a rather awkward length, neither considered long or short, just brushing over her collarbone, a little ticklish; long enough to be tied in a pigtail, too short to be braided.

Had she never considered keeping her hair long? Was she somewhat of a tomboy before in Hoenn? She couldn't remember anything about the so called "old self" but she did find her "old self" a little unreasonable. She'd want to try out Miss Kristen's bun or the girl next door's fishtail braids.

What would Mr Looker think about her hair? She decided to ask him later if he does show up at her door.… if only her thoughts would bring him to her again.

And it was exactly at this very second when Kristen showed up at her door.

"Anabel, you have a visitor."

Those words were probably a button that triggered a 180 degree spin around and mood swing back to the sunny side.

"Mr Looker you haven't been around for da—"

Her voice slam-braked to mute as she soon enough realized that the person standing by her door wasn't Looker.

It was a man in slick black suits from head to toe with spotless and almost gleaming leather shoes, carefully moussed hair with a greasy glow, clean shaved-chin with no peppered stubble like Nanu's or sprouting, barely visible stubble like Looker's. He's on totally different domains from Looker and Nanu.

"Greetings, Miss Anabel, I hope you're enjoying your afternoon so far." The man nodded and smiled at her, but that smile made her feel uneasy. It was too formal, too perfect and superficial of a smile, the type that one would practice infront of a mirror for ages to master. She couldn't really see into his eyes either, they're shrouded by something on his pair of gold-rimmed glasses for sure, but she couldn't exactly say what it is.

"I am well Sir, thank you." Anabel nodded in return, making her utmost attempt to hide a frown from her face, it would be rude not to. "Sorry to be rude but… you are?"

"Yes of course, I haven't introduced myself properly." The man in black bowed ever so slightly before himself down on. "I am the head of the UB department and currently in charge of handling your case. You may call me by my code name Ozma."

* * *

Looker was in fact on his way to the ward when the unappointed meeting took place. He had in his hands two packed bento boxes, this time he actually dropped by a Character bento shop and ordered two Vulpix bentos. He hadn't been around for almost a week and he knew that this would definitely compensate for his absence over the days. All little girls love Charaben and Anabel should not be an exception. He was humming a little tune of his own until he was stopped by one of the agents at the door.

"The faller is currently at rest." The agent's voice was monotonous, robotic, and the fact that their eyes are hidden under shady sunglasses made them even more inhuman.

"Shouldn't Kristen be the one telling me that?" Looker shot him a hostile look, and after recognizing his affiliated department, the thoughts of what would potentially be happening behind the closed doors were making his flesh crawl. He grabbed onto the agent's wrist: "Is Ozma in there? What does he want from her?"

"That would be none of your business," said the agent cooly as he wrestled his way out of Looker's grip.

Looker smacked his lips and was not making the effort to hide it. He saw Kristen who was sitting by a chair in the hallway and knew that she was being banished from the room as well. Something needed to be done and he knew right at the moment what he could do. He walked over to Kristen's side and lowered to his voice to barely a whisper:

"Kristen, let me use the room next doors. You'll see what I mean."

And there he was, in the office next doors, setting up an detectaphone to eavesdrop on the conversation… under Kristen's watch.

"… You do realize that you're doing this inside the ICPO HQ right?"

"Kristen I have my reasons."  
"Well the least I can do is not to breathe out a word."

"Thanks, I'll treat you to dinner later."

"So Mr Ozma, how can I help you?" Those were the first few words heard over the detectaphone.

"I'm here to inform you of your case. According to the current information that we've obtained in your case…" Ozma paused for a few seconds, and those few seconds gave him an ominous chill down his spine.

"I'm afraid to tell you that there's no place for you to return to."

Looker slammed his hand on the table so hard it stung for a while, Kristin had to shush him to remind him that he was eavesdropping that supposedly secretive conversation. That was something he was trying to hide from her for the entire time. He always struggled to toss the hot potato aside and tried to keep the lid on the fact that she didn't belong here for as long as possible. And yet all of his efforts were thrown to waste in not even a minute of Ana's encounter with Ozma.

"What do you mean?" He heard Anabel again, she sounded baffled, but of course she would be. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that."

"For the few months we've been investigating the case files of missing children reported in Hoenn, searching for matching names and features among those cases. We've filed several missing person reports of you, contacted the Hoenn branch of ICPO, and we haven't overlooked the possibilities of child abduction. And yet there was not a single case that resembled your conditions. Not even one that matched in name."

Liar. These were all the things that only Looker himself intended to do back when he first found her. Everything regarding the possibility of "a missing girl" was postponed after she was confirmed to be a faller. The ICPO would never care about a single missing girl to such an extent in the first place to do all these for her.

"So, it is only reasonable to assume that, no one was looking for you in the first place."

You. Don't. Tell. Her. That.

 **You. Don't. Fucking. Tell. Her. That.**

What in the name of Arceus was Ozma planning to do? Shatter Anabel's hope on ever returning to Hoenn or going home, telling her that she's unwanted to the point that no one was looking for her, and then play nice and offer shelter so she could stay here at the HQ being a goody-two-shoes as well as their lab Rattata and UB bait?

"It would be irresponsible of us to merely send you off to an orphanage or an asylum, so I will let you know that you will always have a place to stay here at the ICPO, under a few conditions. We will await the retrieval of your past memory patiently, so take your time with ease."

Ahh.

He was right.

He wasn't pleased by it in the slightest.

She's only 15 at most and she could be 10 for crying out loud, is this something even legal to say to a sensitive pre-teen? He had to remain silent but his mind was on a rolling rant. What are you expecting her to say in return? "Oh thank you so much for allowing me to stay I owe you my life for this, so feel free to do anything to me in the near future, including being thrown out as a bait to the UB"?!

"Thank you for allowing me to stay." He should really stop thinking, now he's on edge, with the clenching fear of hearing things along the lines of 'I owe you my life for this'. "And in return, Mr Ozma, I also have a request."

"For sure, please tell me."

"More of an inquiry…" She paused."At what age are you eligible to enter the ICPO?"

 **Oh no.**

 **This girl's nuts. She's planning to join the ICPO herself.**

Don't say anything anymore, don't you dare, he wanted to yell at her from outside the room, Cathie lost her life to those beasts and I will not let you become another victim to them. Joining the ICPO will only make you a bait with experience, you're still going to be dead meat to them. **I won't allow it. I. Won't. Allow it.**

He wanted to storm into the room and take her out of here.

He didn't.

And so he stopped thinking.

"To be a functioning member you'd have to be at least 18 years or over, to enter training the minimum age is 15…" Ozma then paused and a tone change was visible in his speech. "But you wouldn't want to actually become a member of the ICPO, would you?"

"Well if anything I wouldn't want to be a deadbeat. I'd like to repay the ICPO in some way for saving my life, the most straightforward way of doing that is to serve as a functioning member."

"Well said. But you do realize that the ICPO isn't a place of compulsory education or anything close to a play house, right?"

"I am old enough to be aware of that, thank you very much." Her voice sounded cooled again, at least 5 years older than how old she really is. "If I do happen to underperform, feel free to kick me out any time. I could at least handle that."

Ozma chuckled a little for no reason, and it made him want to rip the vocal chords out of that glibly mouth. He started cracking his knuckles, may or may not be related to the thought. "How very mature of you. You're quite the thinker of you age. Very well. Either myself or my subordinates will keep you informed on what is for you to know regarding training." Chairs squeaking and sliding a little across the floor, Ozma taking his leave. "Now good day to you, Miss Anabel, hope all is well with your rehabilitation."

"Good day to you, Mr Ozma."

And he heard nothing more from Anabel.

Footsteps, the clinks and clonks of Ozma's leather shoes. The sliding creaking of the ward door and it being shut again.

It was the closest his body had ever gotten to acting on its own, he couldn't think, he almost stopped thinking, but his body threw itself out the doors of the office into the hallway, his legs were lead filled but managed to "hotfoot it" on his way out without tumbling over, he didn't know whether the ground was shaking his legs or that his footsteps were shaking the floor.

But he knew he had to say something. He had to do something. For her. For himself.

"Ah, Agent Looker, what a coincidence. I was just thinking of you, who knew you'd be this close." He may be just imagining things, but Ozma may or may not have stressed on the last two words as he pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose. "Please prepare yourself for an upcoming undercover mission, the Aether foundation is worth some investigation no matter how credible they present themselves to be. Despite how cooperative they've been with our investigation they've been hiding a lot under their closed doors. You're one of the best candidates for this mission, I hope that the Aether Foundation would build on to your existing knowledge of the Ultra Beasts."

That was almost too much for his brain to process, he blinked a little absent-mindedly and nodded a "yes sir".

"Of course you will receive special training and instructions prior to the undercover, you will be greeted by members of the Alolan branch and you will be sent in under the right occasion."

If anything he prayed to Lord Arceus that this pop up mission wouldn't require him to leave by tomorrow, he still needs to give a 2 hour lecture to the girl inside the ward about the dangers associated with the dark mess that she is totally oblivious of, if he couldn't bend her back from that path he knew that she was going to repeat the mournful history, just not infront of his eyes…..

"Agent Looker?"

"Ahh, sorry sir. When is my leave scheduled?"

"This Friday."

"…so tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow indeed."

….. Damn, Lord Arceus wasn't at all in his favor today.

"The schedule is a little tight but you'd have more time for preparation when you arrive in Alola. Bon voyage." Ozma waved goodbye at him as he turned around, but with a completely stationary arm.

"Sir!"

He hollered at Ozma's back, even though Ozma had only taken a few steps away from him.

"She's at most a 15 year old, but she could be 10 you never know! Please don't let her be involved in anything in… our side of the world!" He could feel his teeth chattering like upon encountering a cold breeze, but continued regardless: "The ICPO wouldn't want to risk the life of a little girl… am, am I right?"

Ozma squinted slightly, narrowing his slanted eyes while the smile on his lips grew wider, again, that flawless and enigmatic smile that always annoyed him — only that he would never be able to tell what exactly triggered his annoyance.

"Well, Agent Looker, here's a word of advice: Keep your hands off something that's out of your domain."

He had expected this, he had expected this kind of an answer from Ozma, but Ozma's words still left him stunned in vain.

Footsteps, the clinks and clonks of Ozma's leather shoes.

By the time Looker had regained his senses Ozma was already on the other end of the hallway, it was as though he had teleported his way out. Looker shook his head furiously, pushed the urge of banging his head on the walls or punching them, he clenched on the door handle to push the ward door open.

"Why in the name of Arceus would you think of joining the ICPO?"

"Ahhh Mr Looker so you've been listening~!" Her grin widened, revealing the top row of her perfectly aligned teeth. "Don't worry Mr Looker, I know what I can…"

"No you don't." Looker started cracking his knuckles again, this was his own thing to do when he was on edge like Anabel's lip biting. He had complaints from Shaun saying that it was the most bone-chilling sound in the world, but he couldn't help it, it was as necessary as scratching a needling, torturous itch. "You've been here for not even four months and you think that you're all set to become an Interpol?"

Lightning came, a brilliant flash that flickered and died, like an almighty camera flash that blinded everything for a split second.

"Mr Looker… are you mad? I'm sensing a little choler…" There she was, biting her lips again. He knew that he must've scared her, and the lightning was making him even edgier.

"I am." A sizable bubble collapsed in between his joints again, making the loudest popping crack at that instant. From Kristen he heard the scientific explanation of his behavior, cracking knuckles was an act intended to stretch his fingers and relieve pressure buildup but he felt no relief whatsoever. "You don't even know how hard I tried to get you out of this mess, and if anything I didn't do it so that you can re-enter this mess by yourself?! You don't even know…"

"Then tell me. Please… tell me."

Those words silenced him from all his ranting and raving. So did the rumbling thunder that followed, piercing through the thick air in this room.

Lilac yelped a little in panic from the unknown grumbling sound, coming from what seemed like a titanic Pokemon beyond the dark clouds. He would've been terrified as well if he were her age, but right now nothing is more terrifying than the sounds of his constantly accelerating heartbeat as Anabel stared straight into his eyes.

She finally looked away from his eyes. It was a relief, by releasing him from the tightest grip of his heart, but it also felt like her eyes had plucked something out of him. He had no idea what it was. The bite marks were still visible from her quivering lips, and from it a few feeble words were released into the air:

"See…? You wouldn't even tell me."

Of course he wouldn't tell her.

This was something that he had decided to bring into his grave.

His eyes diverged away from her eyes. She had her head down and was looking down at her feet, but he knew that she was staring at him, with her inner eye or consciousness or something that's wrenching up all his insides. Yet another flash of lightning burned itself into his dilated pupils followed by a cracking boom.

He thought that the cracking boom of thunder would be followed by a long period of awkward silence, but instead it was the creaking of the door sliding open. He turned around to find that Nanu had entered the room. He knew that Nanu was here to pick him up for another meeting that he couldn't care less about. "Time to go", he could tell that these words were dangling from Nanu's mouth, and he only swallowed it back after seeing the unopened Charabens on the bedside stands.

So instead, Nanu said— as he wrinkled his nose at the sight of what he considered "children's playthings"— "you've got 3 minutes exactly to shove that bento down your throat."

"I'm good. I'll go with you. Ana could save the other one for tomorrow."

He walked out of the room even before Nanu, without looking back and saying a word of goodbye. He could not bear to turn back. He could not bear to see the kind of expression that she'd be wearing on her face, but he knew that something would be definitely in her eyes. Maybe not tears, but disappointment for sure.

He knew that he had disappointed her, and that was just another one to add to his seemingly endless list of sins he had committed.

"Well I certainly did not see that coming, thought you're gonna be begging on your knees for some extra time."

"Ain't got time for that.." Looker squeezed the words out from his gritted teeth, "Ozma got her."

"…WelI I did see that one coming, it's just a matter of sooner of later. What did he want from her?"

Looker had to take a second and manage his heavy breathing before he summarize the content of the meeting. "He was making her give up on returning to Hoenn so she would stay here as their good little bait. But that's not the point, I don't know what's gotten into her but she asked Ozma about entry to the ICPO. She actually wants to become an interpol she must be out of her mind…"

"… Or how about you reflect on yourself, see if it's because of all the funny little stories that you've been telling her, duh? Right？ Mr Handsome?" Nanu stressed on the last two words on purpose as he pinched at Looker's ears, but he was not in the mood of bickering or pinching back.

"Then tell me what else was I supposed to tell her?! All the ugly deals behind the scenes?!"

"Well she's your mistake, go fix it, tell her things that'll make her back off from that Interpol dream."

"I wish I could, things would've been a lot easier that way…" Looker groaned loudly, "Ozma sent me off on another mission, this one's gonna be a long term undercover… so if only you could.…"

"As if." Nanu interrupted his request rather mercilessly. "I'm not gonna stop her from becoming an interpol."

"Are you nuts as well?!"

"If anything they will teach her how to protect herself so you and I wouldn't have to worry about them her being butchered like a defenseless little Magi.… well even Magikarp knows how to do a flop." Nanu managed a last minute rephrase of his metaphor, and was making air clenches in his struggle to find the right words. "What I'm trying to say is, when you can't help it, try to think on the bright side."

"There is no bright side to this, Nanu. If you can't convince her otherwise… please take care of her when I am away."

"What am I? A nanny? We've agreed on her being your responsibility, honestly 100kr you need to…"

"Please. Nanu. This will be the only thing that I ask of you. Please. I beg of you."

He was actually on the verge of kneeling on the ground when Nanu stopped him.

"… Fine." Nanu sighed for what seemed like the millionth time ever since the day of the incident. For the first time he saw the looks of a languished man on Nanu's face, his eyes had been bloodshot for quite a while and his hair had been dyed grey at an alarming rate. "When it gets to that point, I will try my best to shield her under my wing. But keep in mind that it's not gonna last long."

"…Still I thank you for this. I owe you."

* * *

To Ana:

By the time you're reading this letter I'll be gone already. It's a shame that I couldn't say goodbye in person, the organization had my flight booked before you'd wake up from your sleep. I apologize in advance for the messy handwriting I'm barely getting enough time to pack my luggage.

On the plane to Alola again, Looker closed his eyes and those words written by his very own hand were flashing infront of his eyes. He didn't know if he had what people call eidetic memory, but he was capable of vividly recalling words that were written, images that were seen or things that have happened infront of his eyes from days, months and sometimes even years ago. Indeed it is a double-edged sword, he got to replay the happiest memories of his life over and over again and he would never be able to escape from his worst nightmares.

I'm very sorry for raising my voice at you. It's my fault so it'd be unfair for you to bear it with me, please don't give yourself a hard time. I am still sticking to my point, do not join the ICPO, it is nothing like you've ever heard or seen. But if you've already set your mind and if my higher ups have added your name to the trainee list… then I don't know what I can do to stop you.

Don't think it's going to be as fun as my stories sound… I do try to tell you only the most lighthearted stories. Training is going to be tough. Your brains are going to get you through the knowledge portion but you really have to buckle up for the physical training. I highly doubt that the instructor will go easy on you because you've just recovered from the state that you were in.

Don't think the job is going be as righteous as you think it may be. You don't get to save and help everyone in need. Sometimes you can't even save your partner, your friends, or someone that you care about. You don't need to know how that feels, and I hope that you never will.

If anything his eidetic memory (not confirmed yet) wasn't in charge of remembering the feelings associated with pieces of memory, he could not remember what he felt while writing down these words. The pen must have felt heavy on his hand, judging by the stains of ink and some bolded letters. He knew that he would warn her, he would want her to change her mind about entering the ICPO, but to himself his words were relievers of self-reproach and remorse. Some of the words may perplex her and may not reach her, but he wanted to write them down regardless, hoping that when he meet her again years later he'd be able to tell them what they truly meant.

There are still lots of things that I haven't said, but I am running out of space. But what I can also tell you is, you will also meet teens of your age in your training squad, and I'm sure that you will make great friends just like I did, and some of the times that you've spent in training will be some of the best times of your life.

This is my personal number, xxx-xxxx-xxxxx, I will be on a long term mission so I wouldn't be able to reply on a daily basis, but please text me and let me know if anything happens, or just to tell me that you're alright.

Hoping that all is well, and hope to see you and Lilac soon once I return from this mission.

Best regards,

Looker

And he remembered that, before sealing off the letter into an envelope, he added a few words a little playfully, he couldn't remember what made him do it at the moment, but it was worth it.

(previously 100kr, but I like the name that you picked way better :)

He grinned ever so slightly at the memory of it, and the corner of his lips most probably dropped again as sleep pooled on his eyelids and his face. He didn't even shut the window shades beside him and was completely oblivious to a new sunrise that dyed his own peachfuzz and stubble to a shimmering gold.

Little did he know that soon enough his number will being scratched off by a thick black sharpie censored along with every other so-called sensitive word in the process of "proofreading"

Little did he know that the girl would be reading his letter over and over again for the most subtle clues that weren't intended in the first place

And yes, little did he know that he'd be waiting for a call

that will never reach him.

* * *

P.S.

The story that was told at the beginning came directly from episode 2 (The Chase) of Pokemon Generations. Go watch that episode, honestly I'd watch 600 episodes of Pokemon Generations, ditched the Pokemon anime after Diamond/Pearl. Looker is a real hottie in the Generations series I could fangirl over him all day ( *´艸`*) The only change made was instead of the commander in charge I made him into a rookie because he was supposed to be in his early twenties.  
I canon that Looker is a language specialist, I mean remember when he goes "TAIHENDAAA" "C'est une Catastrophe" and "Es ist eine Katastrophe" in the game without ever just saying "It's a goshdarn disaster"? Pretty sure he just wanted to show off. I'm definitely gonna add that in. There was a meme on tumblr with Anabel flipping the table be like "ENGLISH- M*THERF*CKER-DO YOU SPEAK IT" rofl. Anyways LeBelle = French, Bellocchio = Italian, Pan Ciacho = Polish, source: Bulbapedia, great place ;3

As to the names in this chapter: Ozma came from Necrozma, cuz Necrozma's enigmatic and a little devilish ;) What made me decide on Ozma was more of a trivia from Bulbapedia, "Necrozma may also be based off of Project Ozma, an experiment made to search for extraterrestrial life." Gonna be putting him at the prime spot of antagonism ;) Yasu is either Nanu's name in the French or Spanish games or was it German yeah if you're interested check Bulbapedia, great place ;3  
I know nothing about the ICPO + eligibility of training so the age requirements and stuff are all made up. So please if anything sounds bs to you don't judge me. I'm open to suggestions about the regulations of ICPO and stuff!  
So what happened to Looker's number? Well in order for things to be given to Ana it would've gone through thorough strict inspection first (like when Lilac was first brought in). I thought that it'd be only natural if the ICPO would want to limit the faller's contact to "the outside" as much as possible. Even if Looker's a certified interpol, they're sensing a bit too much of intimacy. Another possibility would've been that the letter was never given to Anabel so she'd be really grieving over Looker leaving without even saying goodbye but… that'd be a bit cliched, so let the poor girl have the letter shall we? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
Next chapter's gonna be a time skip of 10 yrs just a heads up!


End file.
